Arthur Collins found guilty of acid attack in East London club

Arthur Collins was found guilty of injuring 22 people after throwing acid at a Lovejuice Warehouse party on the morning of April 17.

16 people suffered serious burns in the attack. Three people suffered eye injuries and another had third degree burns on the left side of his face, neck and shoulders. The substance ranked at the most acidic end of the pH scale.

Collins, the ex-boyfriend of reality TV star Fearne McCann, was at the club to celebrate his then-girlfriend’s pregnancy, before getting into an altercation with a group of men just before 1am.

Collins told Wood Green court he sprayed the liquid taken from another man’s back pocket, thinking it was a date rape drug. He was seen on CCTV spraying liquid from a bottle of the crowd a number of times.

A solicitor for two of the victims called it a “despicable crime” that “changed the lives of so many people in the club that night”.

Another man, Andre Phoenix, was found not guilty of helping Collins.

Collins, who will be sentenced next month, was found guilty of nine counts of actual bodily harm and five counts of grievous bodily harm.